Nigerian students studying overseas under the Federal Government’s Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship are set to protest today (Monday) over the government’s failure to pay their allowances, The DIP CONNECT ONLINE reports.
The demonstration, organised by the Forum of BEA Scholars, will take place at 10am at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja. Parents of the affected scholars, who say they can no longer cope with the financial and emotional strain, have also confirmed they will join the protest.
According to the scholars, each beneficiary is entitled to a monthly stipend of $500, but no payment has been made in 2025—leaving 11 months unpaid. They added that the government slashed their 2024 stipend by 56%, paying only $220 instead of $500, and still owes arrears for September to December 2023.
Students in countries such as Hungary, Morocco, China, Russia, and Serbia say they are struggling with food, rent, transportation, and medical bills due to the prolonged delay. The forum noted that some scholars have resorted to informal jobs—against scholarship rules—while others survive on charity. They also linked the recent death of a Nigerian student in Morocco to the hardship caused by unpaid allowances.
The Federal Government had in April 2025 announced the cancellation of the BEA scholarship programme, describing it as unsustainable and a poor use of public funds. This followed months of complaints from stranded scholars who said the government had abandoned its financial obligations.
Despite assurances that all supplementary allowances up to December 2024 had been settled, and that additional funds had been requested to cover exchange-rate-related shortfalls, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, confirmed the discontinuation of the BEA scheme.
He said the funds would now be redirected to local scholarship programmes to support more Nigerian students. Alausa noted that in 2024, he rejected an approval request for ₦650 million to sponsor 60 students to Morocco, describing it as unfair to millions of students in Nigeria. He added that the government had reviewed the courses being studied abroad by BEA scholars and found all of them available in Nigerian universities.
The minister stated that BEA beneficiaries currently abroad would be funded until completion of their studies, but no new admissions will be taken after 2025.
Alausa further lamented that 85% of Nigerian students sent abroad on government scholarships do not return to contribute to national development. He added that tertiary institutions with fewer than 2,000 students would no longer qualify for TETFund support.
With the government ending foreign scholarship funding, many BEA scholars remain stranded overseas and are now demanding immediate payment of all outstanding allowances.
TOLU ADEDEJI
